A Story of a Skier

Canada Winter Games, Halifax 2011

2011-02-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

The blog is back, this time to share the excitement and spirit of the Canada Winter Games. The Winter Games are held once every four years, and they are a chance for each province to bring forward their best and brightest athletes. This is week two of the games, the time block allotted to cross country skiing as well as many other sports including boxing, female hockey, gymnastics, archery, snowboarding, sycro, badminton, alpine skiing, curling and figure skating.

The Quebec team was flying out of Montreal, so our trip began with a bus ride from Ottawa to the Airport hotel. There we met up with the other athletes coming from all over Quebec. The next morning was an early one, with our organizers insisting on arriving 3 hours early for the plane. Granted, all our skis and wax boxes made it here, so I suppose its always better to be safe than sorry. The plane was a charter, and so was 100% full of athletes. Thats a lot of hockey equipment, skates and skis to fit onto one plane! I was lucky enough to be bumped up to first class, which was quite a treat! I dont think that I have ever wished that my flight was just a bit longer so that I didn't have to get up out of my seat...

Upon arrival we were shown around the athlete's village. Its a pretty cool setup! Instead of building all new facilities somewhere in the middle of nowhere, they put all of the athletes in three downtown hotels, connected to each other and the cafeteria by tunnels.

Last night was a lot of fun, Great Big Sea was playing, opened by Jeremy Fischer. The crowd was huge! Lots of energy, and the atmosphere was great. Granted, the masses of people meant that we we essentially watching a jumbotron on tiptoe. Oh well...

I am rooming with Anne-Marie, a girl from Quebec City, and Christine, a paranordic skier. I am really enjoying the chance to chat with her about how the para-sports world works, it something that I haven't ever really been exposed to. She is the para-kayaking world champion, and has some really neat ways of overcoming the obstacles presented to her.

This morning we woke up super early to hit the ski trails. The ski center is about an hour from downtown Halifax, and they have done quite a good job! I was talking to one of the head officials responsible for the event, and he said that a year and a half ago there were no trails at all, that he and some guy with a GPS were driving around on a skidoo trying to decide what would make the racecourse fun and exciting. They did a great job, the course is fast and rolling, wide enough to avoid tangle-ups but with enough corners to keep things interesting. Tomorrow should be fun!!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I've been a bit more than lazy about carrying my camera around.

Martock Race Trails

Austria Days 4-6

2010-09-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hallo wieder!!

The past two days have been a blur of early mornings, glacier skis and chilly afternoon runs.

The weekend brought a ton of glacier snow with it... along with a ton of wind and a whole lot of rain down here at sea level. Skiing was crazy, we were pretty much skiing in a complete whiteout. It was even hard to see the person skiing beside you or the corner coming up. Pretty cool, but the combination of super strong winds and blowing snow, required some determination and warm clothing. The gondola stopped on the way down yesterday, right in the middle of a cloud. Pretty scary :/

Today, on the other hand, was another bright day, at least on the glacier. We were skiing above the clouds, so we avoided the overcast conditions down below. This afternoon had a core session on tap, we worked on getting mad six packs in a soccer field by the ski jumps. We rounded off the training day with a game of soccer, always fun :) As for our evenings, I just got destroyed at poker, me losing my chips so fast is what gave me time to write this, its a good thing I suck ;)

I'm looking forward to the three afternoons off that we have coming up, it will be nice to see some of the cities around here and break out of the eat, sleep, train routine we have going everyday. My one teeny complaint about the trip so far is how little of the whole country we have seen, I feel like Europe is about more than just training and hotels. But I'm sure those afternoons will help fill that craving!

Gute Nacht!

Michelle :)

Our little cabin on the glacier

Rollerski advice

Core

One of our hotel's bunnies

Trying to learn poker...

Austria Days 1-3

2010-09-24T04:51:00.000-07:00

So. Seeing as Austria isn't quite as groundbreaking as the Olympics, but since people seem to care anyways, and I love sharing my adventures, I have decided to try and start this whole blogging business up again, but am gonna keep it to one every few days.

I found out a few months ago that I was invited to participate in a training camp in Ramsau, Austria, a small town near Salzburg. We are here to take advantage of the Dachstein glacier, an awesome ski facility located at 3000 feet on, you guessed it, an glacier. Pretty cool eh?

So here's my account of my Austrian adventure :)

We left Ottawa at night, and transferred in Toronto. We had an 8 hour flight ahead of us, so I figured I'd knock myself out with sleeping pills. Obviously, I went a little too far, because for the next 10-12 hours I found it hard to stay awake for more than 15 minutes. My incredible amount of sleep did at least start the week out well, and I would take too much sleep over too little any day.

We looove the toronto airport!...

... and granola, apparently.

Getting things together took quite a while when we finally landed in Zurich, Switzerland. Our wax box hadn't made it, which reaallyy sucked, and we don't exactly travel light...

We hit up the Mc Donalds on the way through Germany, which was fun. Their specialty seemed to be three massive sausages on a big mac bun. They also seem to feel that in order to truly be part of the franchise, they need to stick Mc in front of everything.

The drive to Ramsau was long... 6+ hours, but soooo pretty. The fact that it went by so fast had me a little concerned, I'm not sure that the ability to turn off one's brain for long periods of time is necessarily a good thing. There was lots to look at though... Austria seems to almost completely consist of super high mountains, green valleys and tiny little villages nestled in between. The houses are all so cute, I just want to hug them.

We finally got here and enjoyed an awesome meal at a near by hotel where we will be eating lunch and dinner. We eat breakfast in our house, which is run by a super nice couple, who try they're best to understand our ridiculous looking hand gestures. They raise bees and we are treated to their honey every morning.

Our second day we hit up the rollerski track. You know you've hit a skier's haven when there is a whole network of trails designed specially for a training method that 90% of Canadians have never even heard of. Despite the sketchy downhills, which I will definitely have to work on, we put in a solid workout.

In the afternoon we ran to the base of a ski jump (one of austria's main sports, apparently) and did core.

Today we finally got to the glacier. It is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

You drive 20ish minutes straight up, then jump on a gondola and go even straighter up. The result is tons of altitude, and way less oxygen than I'm used to. We skied for a couple hours around the 10k loop, which is pretty much entirely switchbacks, and then came down for a shower and lunch. On tap for this afternoon is an hour or so easy run, we've had lots of warnings about going too hard during the first few days. Here are some glacier pictures, as well as some randoms I felt I should throw in.

View from our balcony

Lebewohl!! :)

Men's Pursuit. Last day, BYE Vancouver!!

2010-02-21T00:31:00.000-08:00

Coming into the exchange pit...

SWITCH...

And heading back out, all in about 5 seconds. Crazyness.

So. Today was my last day up at the World Olympic Park, and what a day it was. Janelle and I started it off with a ski in 12 degree weather... tank tops were the only thing that made the heat bearable. Since we were skiing reasonably early in the morning, we got the heat without the slushy, deep, heavy snow, which was a definite plus. My nose got a sunburn though. Once our lovely ski was done, we took the klister off our skis, a task that we had been postponing all week. After a quick lunch, the race finally started. Today was the 30k pursuit, a 15k leg of both classic and skate. I’m sure most of you saw it, so I won’t go into too much detail, but to sum it up, it was awesome. The Canadians did so well, and that was reflected in the stadium’s energy. People were SO LOUD. There were two giant cowbells in the Swiss cheering squad, a trumpet somewhere near the Norwegians, whistles in the Canada section and loud cheers filling the rest of the stadium. And of course, energy spreads, and so soon everyone around you is shifting from foot to foot, completely absorbed in the atmosphere around them. I really liked how the race was a longer distance than the previous ones, you don’t miss the race just by blinking and you had time to really get into it. And again, we did so well, it was hard to not be super high-strung the whole time. Forerunning is still fun, although I’m getting a little worn out, as is the rest of the group, I think. It shows in our postrunning... we started out the week skiing 7.5k loops, now we cut off at about 400 meters. Not that I mind terribly, I’ve been getting in plenty of good training. I’m just not a huge fan of skiing, stopping, skiing, stopping and skiing again. You build up some crazy acid in the legs doing that.

So this was my last forerunning race, and what a race it was. I’ll be leaving here with another life changing experience courtesy by skiing under my belt, hopefully with many more to follow. I am so grateful that I was chosen to take part in these incredible events; I will remember them for a long time. The motivation provided is incredible. Being an Olympic athlete seems so much more attainable when you spend 2 weeks around them constantly. But you also see what kind of a commitment it is. You see their constant focus, on and off the trails, their determination to get everything just so, so that they can go out and have the best race of their lives. I have been immersed in so much race preparation, it is unbelievable. I have watched the same people test skis for DAYS, I have seen skiers out skiing the course, completely 100% zoned out to the world around them, preparing to race. I even skied past some Swiss guy in the middle of the woods doing tai-chi followed by a short sprint and then repeating this, over and over and over. The Olympics are like some super intricate watch, ticking away for 18 days with the whole world watching. TV viewers, spectators and most volunteers only get to see the pretty numbers on the front, or perhaps help wind it up just a bit, doing their part. I feel like I was given the chance to dance around the inner gears, trying not to jam anything up, while trying to stick my nose in as many places as possible and see everything I could and how it all worked and fit together. I don’t know who gave us the privilege to do this, to eat with the athletes, walk in the waxing zone, or watch from a place that was off limits to even the national team coaches, but whoever it was, thank you so, so, so much.

People always asked if I was going to win a gold medal when they heard I was going to the Olympics. And then I would have to explain, ever so patiently, that no, I wasn’t even racing, that I was forerunning, which then leads to me trying to explain exactly what a forerunner is, etc. Basically, no matter how the conversation meanders, it always seemed to end with the other person throwing me a wry smile and a “Well, if not this time, maybe the next, or the next.” I usually write this off with a laugh, but really, it would be the coolest thing ever, and there is always a tiny bit of me going “YES, YES, YES” . All of these athletes winning medals were once 17 and watching the games from their couches. It’s all about motivation, it got them here, and although there is always a chance it will run out, or be directed elsewhere, as long as momentum carries through, there is really no reason to believe that it can’t be done eventually. If my eyes can tear up watching opening ceremonies on TV where the torch doesn’t rise and a hockey player carries a sputtering flame through the rain in a pickup truck, then I can’t even imagine how great it must feel for the athletes taking part, or even winning medals. This is the kind of legacy the Olympics leave behind, this inspiration to overcome bumps in the road, to strive for excellence and bathe in the glory that is sport and the games, and I am sure that every other aspiring athlete feels the same.

My bag is packed, my skis are travel waxed, my seats are booked and I’m going home. Bye Vancouver 2010, I’ll miss you.

Michelle

Janelle pulling her very best Canadian tourist look

Back of the stands

Some of the countries' wax cabins

Our home away from home away from home for the past two weeks... this and the wax trailer

Ice Inukshuks by the finish line

Day 11: Some Classy Shopping in Squamish

2010-02-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

Not too much to report today. I opted for a day of rest and recovery, slept in till 10 and then set out to enjoy the sights in Squamish. We quickly came to the conclusion that Squamish the place of cheap everything. Their main street’s biggest attractions include the Lucky Loonie, Liquidation World, several second hand clothing stores and some department store that was really a pimped out Dollorama. And I admit it, we visited them all. We were on a bit of a mission to find a Canadian flag, but no one had any idea where to find one. My most impressive buy of the day was a Panini and gelato, which were amazing. My knee has been bugging me quite a bit these last few days. Skiing is almost 100% fine, but walking is... unpleasant. So I called it a day after Main Street was done and headed back to the inn for yet another night of Olympic sport watching. On tonight’s menu: Figure skating, skeleton and men’s hockey. Very exciting, hockey was fun, we’re surrounded by some pretty intense hockey fans here. Apparently Petra Majdic, the bronze medallist from yesterday’s sprint race, raced all of her races with four cracked ribs and a punctured lung. That’s quals, quarters, semis and finals, FOUR races, and a podium to top it all off with a punctured lung?!? Either the media is upset that the luge drama has been set aside and have decided to pump up the ratings, or this woman is superhuman. I mean, not to sound like a whiner, but cross-country skiing is HARD, you kind of need your lungs. Form your own opinion, here’s the link:

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Olympic+cross+country+Slovenia+Petra+Majdic+determination+grit+wins+bronze/2583221/story.html

The end of my trip is fast approaching; I’m trying to suck as much olympicness out of everything as possible. Two weeks has flown by, and it’s hard to believe that in three days I’ll be sitting in chemistry, learning about chemical equilibrium, or something along those lines. Sigh.
Anyways, time for bed, sorry I wasn’t more interesting today.
Michelle :)

Day 10: Like beasts on a mission... dont get in the way

2010-02-17T23:11:00.000-08:00

Men's Final

Today was great. Another early start, we left the hotel at 6:15 to be exact. I am now an expert at sleeping on buses; I can be out in a matter of minutes. I was sitting next to one of the snowmobile camera guys who drives the fancy camera at the pace of the race. He recognized me from one of the media tests we did last week, and we had a chat about how one of his coworkers had crashed one last year at the World Cup. When I asked him, out of honest curiosity, whether his friend had been fired for driving such a pricy piece of equipment into a snow bank, he was quick to tell me, in a voice significantly less loud and me-like, that no, his friend still had a job, and was sitting right behind me. I blame my red face on the heat in the bus, but I was pretty embarrassed. Moral of the story, don’t ask questions about camera mess-ups in a bus full of media.

When we arrived at WOP around 8, there were already people filing into the stadium. Sprints are a big deal, and everything is so close, that it can really be anyone’s race, which added to the already excited and vibrant atmosphere that we have been in the middle of since the beginning of the week. Ski testing is a big deal for us. Obviously not as big a deal as it is for the racers, but we really can’t be slippy at all. One of our jobs, technically, as forerunners, is to ski in and improve the general state of the course. Granted, in rock hard, icy tracks like there were today, there wasn’t really much we could do to make it better, and so our job title was slightly different... whatever you do, don’t make it worse, or heads will roll. So basically, it was preferable to be on walking-up-a-vertical-wall-like-spiderman-but-with-skis-on-feet-instead-of-webs-on-hands sticky klister, than to herringbone and be dismembered by groomers who have been on dusk till dawn schedules trying to get the course just so. They did an amazing job, by the way.

And so once our skis were coated with a generous layer of klister (all the way past my hard wax zone and into my glide zone, actually), we were ready. We headed to the stadium, and were off. The course was a gong-show before the races even started. Half of it was in the shade, while the rest was sitting in the bright 60 sun, and everything in between was corners scraped down to ice. But we made it through, thankfully with no falls, and headed straight to our awesome spot in the stadium. No sooner than we had all picked a spot to perch on the fence, we were back on our feet, the qualifiers had begun. Our Canadians did alright, with 4 of the 8 of them qualifying for the heats (top 30). The crowds were super into it, which made it all even better, with little Norway and Canada competing for the most sound wave occupancy. I think Norway won, it helps when your athletes are all crazy fast.
After quals it we beelined it to the athlete’s lounge, and took in the sites over our bowls of broccoli soup. All the athletes we had just watched move like beasts on a mission were resting, talking on their cell phones, changing, eating and watching other events on the tv. Watching them go through their normal habits, it would be hard to know that there were Olympic medals on the line. But if you looked closer, there were for sure some stressed out vibes going around the room. Many athletes were on their own at tables or in corners, alone with their thoughts and strategies.

Once the heats started, everything kinda became a blur. One heat to the next, we saw some skiers get an inch closer to their Olympic dream, while others gave that inch and lost a mile. Of course, then there were the finals. They were incredible, so many people cheering for so few. I think that that’s the biggest revelation for today, if you will. An Olympic gold is not just an athlete’s dream, but the dream of their country, their coaches, their wax techs, their cheering squad. The accomplishment of one person means so much to so many more. Today I got to witness the power of sport, the reason people keep showing up, century after century, to run around in circles and hit things with sticks. It can all be wrapped up in the look on some Russian technician’s (coach’s? Dunno, doesn’t matter) face as he watched two of his people cross the line almost simultaneously to take first and second and shouted GOLD, at the top of his lungs. Bash the Russians if you want, but that was quite a moment.

After the races I got a bit of a training ski in, the sun was shining and freckles have exploded all over my face, except for my forehead of course, because obviously contrast is so in this season. We went on an awesome ski, getting onto some different trails than what we’ve been on recently, thanks to our tour guide, Thomsen, who lives around here and was able to provide us with some variety.

All in all, awesome day.

That’s all folks!!

Michelle :)

Women's final

The new female Olympic Sprint Champion

Day 9: Training and Biathlon

2010-02-16T22:12:00.000-08:00

As much crowd as my camera could fit

Today was pretty relaxed; we got to sleep in all the way up to 7!! Once we got to WOP, we jumped on skis and got an hour and a half of solid training in. We were on hairies again, and although the snow was sluggish, the grip was infallible, quite a nice treat after the classic conditions last time. Everything seemed kind of slow after the last couple days of chaos, because there were no ski jumping or Nordic events going on at all. After our ski, we decided to book it over to the biathlon pursuit race. And then we found the crowds. Crazy masses of Germans, Norwegians everywhere, everybody singing their national anthems (I’m assuming, I couldn’t understand anything), waving flags and pumping the air in random, sporadic doses. Every time someone would shoot, the whole crowd would erupt in either cheers or groans, varying with the outcome. The whole atmosphere was nice, but the results was that we could hardly see the stadium, and a view of the big screen was only available when you followed the gap between the people in front of you, as they did the same with the people in front of them. So basically, a lot of shuffling was involved. We were eventually able to squeeze our way onto a hill, which offered a much better view.

Of course, the big news in biathlon was our athlete Leguellec being started 30 seconds early, which means although he was skiing near the leaders, he was really back 30 seconds. If that doesn’t mess with your head in an Olympic race, I don’t know what would. Apparently there were mistakes made in the women’s race as well, earlier in the morning, and so they switched the starters to avoid more mistakes being made. I guess it didn’t exactly work...
Tomorrow is SPRINTS, I am so excited, they are for sure going to be the highlight of this week. Everything should be mucho fantastic, AND, to top it all off, they are calling for nice weather for the next FOUR DAYS. Whoda thunk it?

That’s all folks!!

Michelle :)

PS I know (now) that the names written beneath my pictures from yesterday's blog are a little mixed up. And yes, I am aware of the irony, considering I was flaunting my newfound ski expertise in that same blog. So yes, my apologies.

Day 8: YAHYAHYAH

2010-02-15T16:53:00.001-08:00

Today was the first legit cross-country race, a women's 10k and men's 15k individual skate race. We got out to an early start, leaving the hotel at 6:15 in the morning. It was decided that the girls would take care of forerunning for the women's race, and the guys for the men's. When we finished forerunning for the women, no one kicked us out so we got to watch from right in the middle of the stadium, within 5m of the start line, lap lane and finish lane. It was really cool, being right in the middle of the warm-up area and right next to the starting line up. We have a skiing pool going, and it makes it a lot more interesting, having people to cheer for, AND I am finally getting my ski education. I am officially an expert on who is who, who is good and who is doped. (or strongly, strongly suspected to be)The men's race was so cool, once we found a spot to watch from. We walked around the track FOREVER, but it was packed with crazy europeans and their cowbells screaming at the top of their lungs 20 minutes before the race even started. So we headed to the stadium bleachers, and landed ourselves some sweet seats next to Judy and Brad. We were also lucky enough to be sitting behind Dario Cologna's (the winner) parents. His mom was all choked up, and his dad was hollering at the big screen, and telling anyone who glanced over to see what he was shouting about "thats my son, he's my son". So cute, so awesome, they made me want to cry. It pretty much made my day. As for the other sports, it's awesome being able to pick a spot on the couch and watch the Olympics with people who are just as into sports and competition as I am, people who are just as inspired by these people who have worked hard and are finally getting what they deserve... a shot at gold, a chance to leave behind a legacy.

The only small downside to all of this excitement is that getting any kind of work done is next to impossible. And so, school may be a bit stressful when I get home. But really, I only have to last a week until march break... and then another couple more until nationals... oh dear.

So everybody should keep their fingers crossed for more golds, more excitement and more supportive teachers for Michelle :)

And that's all folks

Michelle :)

Nordic Combined results from yesterday

C. Kalla.

Wish I could see the number... Its some Norwegian chicka anyways...

One of the media hotspots. They had NOTHING on our seats. We're spoiled :)

A Norway cheering squad. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if someone told me they outnumbered the Canadian spectators today.

M. Bjoergen

M. Bjoergen

Madeleine Williams, our only Canadian woman racing today

SkyCam... Apparently they're worth a million dollars each

SkyCam

Crazy German Vikings... for the record, they provided and insisted on the clown nose :)

Stadium

Finish Line

Day 7: First day of forerunning, Nordic Combined.

2010-02-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

Hey!

We got to have a bit of a sleep in this morning, we were fore-running for Nordic combined this morning and they had to do the whole jumping portion before we even got on the trails. Nordic Combined is a pretty cool idea. Basically, the skiers ski jump, and the farther they go, the bigger a head start they get in the cross-country segment of the race. This is super cool to watch, it is essentially a huge chase, with the finish coming down to a sprint between many, because the best jumpers aren't usually the best skiers. They were skiing a 10, but with 2.5k loops, and so we were only really skiing 5k officially, 2.5 before and another 2.5 after. We managed to get an hour and a bit of training in. It was a nice day, but of course the skies opened up for long enough to get us all good and soaked before retreating over the mountains. But no complaints, I feel like we haven't seen the sun in forever. Fore-running was so cool!! You don't have to work super hard, because the most important thing is to ski as a group, but you get to ski in front of a HUGE crowd, with nothing to focus their excited energy on before the race but you. Kinda stressful, but crazy amazing, cameras flashing and people cheering from all directions, all along the way. Granted, this was probably more to push off the post-race stress/boredom, but still, we can pretend.

One other amazing thing about fore-running. Seeing as we are the last people on course before the race and the first on after it, we get awesome spots, with the start line on our left and the finish line on our right, about 3m from each, right in the middle of it. The atmosphere is incredible, you could almost see the excitement. And this was for Nordic combined, i mean, who even knows what it is? The first cross-country race is tomorrow, women's 10k and men's 15k skate. SO FREAKING PUMPED. Its is going to be incredible, and, to make it even sweeter, they have decided that only the girls will forerun for the women's race and only the guys for the guys race, which means that we (the ladies) will see the entire guy's race, awesome.

I should go to bed, we have a 5:30 start tomorrow morning, as busing takes FOREVER. Also, no pictures, I'll post them tomorrow, we went to see valentine's day tonight, i guess this is what happens.

Goodnight!!

Michelle :)

Day 6: Rest and Relaxation

2010-02-13T23:06:00.000-08:00

Today was an off day, so we took the chance to get a bit of training in on our own terms, without some course official or tv crew telling us what to do. We got a chance to check out some more ski jumping, it helps that the jumps are about 10 steps from the wax room. Getting out and actually skiing was a bit of a production, as most people, myself included, kept changing their minds about what worked better with the snow conditions, hairies or klister. Really, both were bad, and the whole team, with the exception of rebecca, who could be skiing on sheer ice and still be convinced that her hairies will work, was experiencing a bit of a grass is always greener phenomena, whatever we had, we wanted something else, grasping at any small chance that we wouldn't get stuck skiing our shoulders to death for 2 hours. Anyways, the point is, all this set us behind schedual, except rebecca, who was on hairies which were, we eventually agreed on, the skis to go with. Note to self: Do what Rebecca does, always. Check. Because of this, we didnt have time to fit in all our training and make it to the women's biathlon, which was happeningjust down the road. Its kinda sad that people from all over the world made it to this race and I couldn't pull it together to walk 300m and get there in time.
We did catch a bunch of it on the tv in the athletes lounge, which was pretty cool. All the different countries xc skiers were, obviously, cheering for their biathlon counterparts, and it made for some interesting spectating. The cheers and curses in what seemed like a million languages somewhat made up for the lack of being there.

One plus for today... the groomers worked their magic overnight and the trails are a million times better than yesterday. I dont know where all the slush went, but we spent the morning gliding over smooth, hard, fast and clean trails, a 150% improvement sine yesterday.

After biathlon, we headed out to whistler to shop and soak up the olympic spirit, which we are a bit isolated from in our hotel. It is so pretty at night! All the trees are lit p with tiny LED lights, reminders of the opening ceremonies.

As for other sports, we got to see Jenn Heil put on another great performance in Moguls. I know that she, and perhaps other canadians are a little disapointed that she won't be bringing home our first gold, but really, the olympics are just another race. I think the public is a bit too side blinded by these events, and fail to see and acknowledge the countless (well, you could probably count them, but still) world cup medals, many of which were gold, she picked up during her season. These races host the exact same people, and it isn't right that people be disapointed in her after she has so well represented our country all through this winter, and many before that. And so, bravo Jenn, way to bring in canada's first bling!

Tomorrow is the first real forerunning we'll be doing, leading out and finishing up the nordic combined 10k. Should be great, and I'll try and do my homework and figure out who is who before tomorrow.

Thats all folks!!

Michelle :)

The ski jump stadium. PACKED. Joe Bieden was there, so mucho police.

More ski testing. They NEVER STOP.

Yes, another set-up-for-silly-tourists-so-that-they-will-come-in-to-take-a-picture-and-end-up-spending-money-in-our-store picture. Sorry. BUT,I didnt end up buying anything. SO, i guess I got a free bobsleigh ride. HAH.

The Cana-duh guys. They were pretty good at hockey for guys on stilts. And their, duh, "post-game interviews" duh, were pretty, duh, funny. For about 10 seconds. Then they started sounding like legit hocky players talking about "giving 110%" and "gettin it all together", so we made a break for it.

Whistler Live Stage. We're going to see Bedouin Soundclash here tomorrow, free tickets!!

A monument set up in memory of the Georgian Slider. Apparently his country is building a luge run in his hometown in his memory meant to encourage more little kids to take up the sport. Something seems a bit off here...

Marching band we saw in Whistler. They we're so cool, so good, most of them my ageish. Really glad we bumped into them, it added a lot to the day.

Day 5: Let the Games Begin!!

2010-02-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Hello!
This morning's weather provided us with a misleading sliver of hope that we may get a nice day. However, true to the forecaster’s promises, as soon as the skis and time chips were on, the skies opened up and gave us, yes, more rain. Other than the rain, which I suppose we are at least getting used to, today’s race went quite well. We were skiing a 7.5k, three loops, a trial run for Nordic Combined, which is a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. Of course, we were only forerunning the cross-country part, otherwise I think that we would have been short quite a few forerunners in the days to come. The way NC works is, basically, the further you jump, the bigger a head start you get. They started us off randomly, apparently the athlete I was pretending to be was not the greatest of jumpers, as I was starting last. Everything went smoothly, the only small setback is the condition of the trails. It is, essentially, ankle deep slush. There isn’t much the groomers can do, and the more rain and wet snow that falls, the harder their job gets. Apparently the foreign coaches have also been complaining that the trails are somewhat concaved, so I guess Dirk and his crew have their work cut out for them.
We found out today that not only are we going to be forerunning, but also postrunning, which is apparently some kind of tradition, to officially finish the race. Seems a little useless, and personally I would rather see the end of the races... we’re supposed to leave 500m afeter the last person. One thing that does sound awesome is that if it’s snowing, we are supposed to ski behind the last guy, and then jump out of the tracks when the lead pack comes back through (hopefully, without falling in their way) Should be an amazing experience, I can’t wait for the first race to go! Biathlon has their first race tomorrow, we will probably go watch that after training tomorrow, its right next to the cross-country venue and we have a day off of work tomorrow.

On a slightly different note, my heart goes out to the slider who died today. His death put a bit of a damper on the Olympic spirit around here. Just knowing that every athlete here, myself and the other forerunners included, has a love for training, sport and competition that paralleled that of this world-class athlete is more than enough to move and bring together the athletic community. The Olympic Games should be a time for celebration and pride, and I am truly sorry that the team from Georgia, his family and the whole Olympic community had to deal with this.

The Opening Ceremonies just ended, despite the *cough* glitch at the end, they were pretty well done, full of our famous Canadian pride. They leave us more inspired than ever, and open what should be a great and memorable Olympic Games. Go Canada!!

Thats all folks!!

Michelle

Sorry for the lack of pictures... I didnt want to take the camera out on the trails, it was raining pretty hard.

Arianna Follis

Lucas Bauer

The ski jumping venue... yes, that tiny dot on the hill is a man. They are SO big. All the jumpers are these tiny little anorexic people, but they launch themselves so high!

I watched a bit of the qualifiers before work. No one from canada made it through. Apparently we suck at ski jumping.

The security blimp. It surveys the whole area, all day long.

Day 4: Zero degree skis for zero degree weather

2010-02-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

It was raining super hard in Squamish this morning. Pretty much everything was soaked before we even got on snow. On the bright side, the rain was slushy snow at the Olympic park, which means we got to ski on zeros, which is 1000000x better than klister skiing. I tried out my new Madsus hairies, prepared by the great Peter Hamilton himself, and they worked awesome. I'm not too experienced in the hairies skiing department, but once I got a quick zeros 101 lesson from James (Cunningham), I was good to go. We were supposed to be helping the media get ready for the relays today, the 4x5km. We were skiing two legs each, I was in the second group of skiers. The main point of this was to ski together, not to ski fast, so the pace was pretty relaxed. We could watch the other skiers on the big screen while we waited, but it got kinda cold. Even though the temperataure was sitting around 0, everything was soaking wet, and damp like that gets to you. Once the first group tagged off we warmed up pretty quick, the course starts out with a big climb. It's kinda tough, trying toold formation, but feeling like you should ski fast for the cameras... its not easy to know what to do. Our on-snow leader, the Whistler Nordic coach Maria, was getting orders through her radio the whole time. You can't just zone out and ski, or you'll drop the group. Petter Northug was testing skis close by but I am a wuss so Mike, your 50$ is safe for now.

I am starting to feel better, still stuffy but way better than I was yesterday. My kick-ass immune system has stepped it up once again.

Thaaaats all Folks!

Michelle :)

The girl's start

Skiing...

Skiing...

Skiing...

Annddd, then we had to stop cause the group got broken up

The boy's start

The boy's start

Athletes testing skis

Some of the forerunners

Day 3: Starstruckkk

2010-02-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

My face on the big screen at the start of our "race". This thing is HUGE, so cool, although I was a little concerned about having something on my face, blown p x10000000. Note the name, if you can see it. Go Norway!

Today was our first day with actual forerunning duties. We left at 7 to catch a bus, transfer, catch another bus, transfer and then catch another bus. Security wasn't too bad, we get to skip the volunteer lines because we have been given "athlete" status. More on that. Security is pretty crazy... There are all kinds of wands, metal detectors and searches to get into the site. There are four different line to go through different kinds of security, and we get to skip two, which is awesome. Whenever the buses pull into the athletes village they check for bombs on the bottoms with mirrors and there are helicopters and these little white balloons carrying spy cameras above our heads all day long. There are apparently snipers dressed in white posted in the woods all along the trails already, with more to come once the games actually start. Today we were lugging our skis up to the site. Once they're there we can leave them until its time to fly out. Our athletes pass gives us access to the wax trailers, we have two to ourselves in the rep trailer area. We're right across from madshus, how convieniant :) The team wax trailers are a few meters down the road, we walk through there to get to the stadium. It's pretty cool to see all the different flags and hear all these crazy languages being spoken all around us. We are also the only volunteers to have access to the athletes lounge and chalet. This is incredible. We get food, eat, wax and chill in the same room, at the same tables as the world's best. I finally wish I had listened to Patrick and done my ski knowledge homework. People around me are constantly pointing out our sport's greats and the only two I could recognize today were marit bjoergen and peter northug. Sad, maybe ill do some research tonight. Mike has promised to give me 50 bucks if i can get a picture of me kissing peter's cheek, we'll have to see if i can summon up the guts to ask.

Our job today was to ski the 15km skate race so the timing crew and media can practice timing and filming. It was pretty cool, it was like we were actual racing in the olympics, except for the fact that our only spectators were olympic athletes and they really couldn't care less. But other than the lack of attention, we had bibs, our faces on the big screen and fake names. Steph was Alex Harvey, and I was some sprinter from Norway, Toro Asle Gjerdalen. Apparently he's fast. Buutt I got caught by Alex Harvey, biiigg surprise there. On the other hand, the announcers had a field day on the fact that a bugarian won the race. I guess that doesnt happen very often. They were funny. Most of the girls ended up grouping together and skiing as a pack, 15k is a long way to go All in all, today was super cool.

The only slightly less awesome thing is that i think im getting really sick. I've been fighting off something for a couple weeks now by now I've got this pressure in my head and a cough. I'm super scared that I'll give it to one of the athletes, were around them so much. I would feel terrible. I'm trying to be super careful an wash my hands like, all the time. Anyways, I'll get a goodnight's sleep tonight and hopefully tomorrow will be better.

That's all folks!

Michelle

The ski jump... back of the bleachers.

Me somewhere on the course

Annndd again

View of the stadium from the trail

Our uniforms. And yes, the hats are manditory, don't get me started.

The twins and I. This mesh stuff is EVERYWHERE.

The view from our wax room. We can see the jumpers training, you actually have to be insane to do this sport. It's crazy. Not like, whoa, crazy, you can eat 4 burgers. Like, holy sh**, thats crazy, you just launched yourself a gazillion feet into the air AND LANDED IT! kind of crazy.

Day 2: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, stalking skills, toques and mountains

2010-02-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to a sunny warm squamish, with the sound of ski jumpers slamming doors at 7 in the morning. Breakfast consisted of the National team's rejects... For some reason sme sponsor thought it would be a good idea to give olympic athletes copious amounts of cinnamon toast crunch, honey nut cheerios and fruit roll ups. Of course,it wasn't a good idea at all and so the forerunning team was lucky enough (or not) to inherit it all. After breakfast we headed up to Whistler to get our accrediation. It is quite a process to get around here. Since no one is allowed a car, because of the already insane traffic, public transit is the only way to get around. Because getting there was such a production, we decided we had better make a day of it. And so, our afternoon was spent eating pizza, stalking foreign athletes and buying olympic stuff that was in pretty much every store we came across, all ridiculously overpriced of course, its not like they have competitors running a different olympics the next block over! Accreditation was super smooth, they really have everything figured out to the tiniest detail. We're supposed to wear this huge pass thing around our neck all the time. They have your name and your job on them and every volunteer has one, from chefs to parking agents to bus drivers to paramedics. They made you feel like your in the movie the Island, dunno if you've seen it. Basically everybody has some tiny trivial assigned task and everything works out somehow. They also make you feel very official, annddd then you start to feel like a tool with this giant name tag around your neck, so then it ends up in your bag. I fell asleep on the bus ride home, then got woken up and got to stand outside and wait for another bus. Its actually quite a nice temperature here but once the sun drops behind the mountains it gets kinda chilly. We went grocery shopping, our inn has a kitchen downstairs we can use to cook, its kinda set up like a hostel. I switched rooms, so now I'm with Steph Drolet, my room is much nicer and we're gettng along splendid, shes fun :) Some of the other forerunners are finally starting to trickle in. I spent the day with the Drolet twins and Amie Matthews, we were the only ones here. Dinner tonight is chicken pesto, the twins bailed me and my pathetic culinary skills out. I should probably go help though.

So, thats all folks!

Michelle <3

We are stalkers :)

Aaannndd again

Oh Canada!! It makes you want to pull the middle one out, eh?

Yup, I'm pretty official, no big deal. But also a little orange, apparently

Today's clique

Me and the mascots, Sumi, Quatchi and Miga

Whistler

The National team coach wanted to recruit us, he liked our good form, but we had to say no. Forerunning first!! :P

I stalk with no shame

Alright, maybe a little...

This doesn't even come remotely close to doing this view justice. Not. Even. Close.

Day 1: Wait, Sit, Wait, Sleep, Sit, Wait

2010-02-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

So I'm here. After a reasonably bump free, airport full day, my plane touched down in Vancouver YWG International airport. I waited for the shuttle that was supposed to take me to Whistler for accreditation for two hours, which was okay, cause it gave me time to charge my celphone, my lifeline, my baby, which was bringing me closer to a heart attack with every low battery beep. Once we (finally) got on the road, you could really tell olympic fever is in full swing. It seems like every second car is a cop or some kind of white van with the olympic logo. Talking to our driver, Martin, a quebec native who seemed more than happy to find someone to speak french with, I quickly picked up that he, and the other locals were less than happy about the olympics and all its related traffic, costs and tourist invasion. But even he had to admit that the vibe you get from all the endless Go Canada t-shirts, ads, street signs and posters is not something that can be disliked unless, and I quote him, "you have a heart made of rock".

Our accomodation is alright, although I have a room meant for 4 all to myself right now. Of everyone who was supposed to arrive tonight, onl me and the two coaches have made it. Also, this room is freezing and some guy just got pulled out on a stretcher. And there are sketchy looking cardboard boxes in the corner...

BUT, im at the olympics, skis, stuff and self intact. All is well. Sorry for the lack of pictures but trust me, you dont wanna see the inside of the winnipeg airport. It sucks.

Thats all folks!

Michelle